Vinca Minor

Lesser Periwinkle

by William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory

A remedy for skin affections, eczema, and especially plica polonica; also for hæmorrhages and diphtheria.

Head

Tearing pain in vertex, ringing and whistling in ears. Whirling vertigo, with flickering before eyes. Spots on scalp, oozing moisture, matting hair together. Corrosive itching of scalp . Bald spots. Plica polonica . Irresistible desire to scratch.

Nose

Tip gets red easily. Moist eruption on septum. Stoppage of one nostril. Sores in nose . Seborrhœa upper lip and base of nose.

Throat

Difficult swallowing. Ulcers. Frequent hawking. Diphtheria .

Female

Excessive menstruation with great weakness. Passive uterine hæmorrhages ( Ust; Trill; Secale ). Menorrhagia; continuous flow, particularly at climacteric ( Lach ). Hæmorrhages from fibroids.

Skin

Corrosive itching. Great sensitiveness of skin, with redness and soreness from slight rubbing. Eczema of head and face; pustules, itching, burning, and offensive odor. Hair matted together.

Relationship

Compare: Oleand; Staph .

Dose

First to third potency.

Vinca Minor across the other classic books

Vinca Minor appears in 6 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Vinca minor, Linn. Natural order , Apocynaceæ. Common names , Periwinkle; (G.), Sinngruen; (F.), Pervenche. Preparation , Tincture of whole plant. Authority. 1 , Rosenburg, A. H. Z., 17, 41, four healthy persons took doses of 20 to 60 drops of the tincture. Sadness, with fear of death. Lachrymose. Peevish and…”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“Skin. Hair. After swallowing. Weak and faint, as if to die. .................... Foul, matted hair. Cutting in lower œsophagus. Menorrhagia; blood flows and flows, with weakness. Weeping eczema intermingled with foul, thick crusts. Related: Ustil.”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Lesser Periwinkle. (Woods and shady places.) N. O. Apocynaceæ. Tincture of whole fresh plant. Acne / Alopecia / Crusta lactea / Eczema / Favus / Neck, stiff / Nose, redness of / Plica polonica / Seborrhœa / Throat, sore / Uterus, bleeding from Vinca was proved by Rosenburg on four healthy persons, who took the…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Lesser Periwinkle. Asclepiadaceæ. A native of Europe, found in shaded woods ; cultivated in gardens, flowers in April and May. The tincture is prepared from the fresh plant. Proved by Rosenburg, A. H. Z., vol. 17, p. 41. CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Eruption on head , Schüler, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 268. Lachrymose…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Corrosive itching on the hairy scalp. Badly-smelling eruptions on the head, in the face and behind the ears. The hairs are entangled, as in plica polonica. Humid eruptions on the head, with much vermin, and nightly itching, with burning after scratching. The tip of the nose becomes red on getting the least angry…”

Vinca Minor in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Vinca Minor in 124 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in HEAD (18), EXTREMITIES (13), FACE (13), NOSE (10), STOMACH (10).

HEAD - ERUPTION - eczema
HEAD - ERUPTION - crusts,scabs
COUGH - TICKLING - larynx,in,from
LARYNX TRACHEA - TICKLING in the air passages - Larynx,in
EXTREMITIES - ITCHING - Ankle - spots
EXTREMITIES - TREMBLING - Upper Limbs - exertion, - of mind
EXTREMITIES - ULCERS - Nates - burning
FACE - ERUPTIONS - moist - nose - septum
HEAD - HAIR, - falling - spots,in - and comes in white
NOSE - DISCOLORATION, - redness - anger,after
NOSE - DISCOLORATION, - redness - excitement,after
NOSE - DISCOLORATION, - redness - tip - anger,from
STOMACH - ERUCTATIONS - empty - beer,after
EXTREMITIES - SWELLING - Fingers - joints - first joint
FACE - SWELLING - mouth - corner of
HEAD - PAIN, - sore bruised,sensitive to pressure - Vertex - spots,in
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - drawing - Toes - cramp-like
NOSE - DISCHARGE, - crusts,scabs,inside - brown crusts
VISION - FOGGY - walking
EXTREMITIES - ULCERS - Nates

Search all 7 classical repertories

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